CPRE comment on housing consultation launch

In response to today's publication of the Government consultation on measures "to boost housing supply in England", Matt Thomson, head of planning at the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), said:

“We hoped that this consultation would go some way to addressing the housing crisis while fulfilling the Government's commitment to protecting the countryside. It failed in this regard.

“Forcing high housing numbers onto the most expensive areas is the wrong answer. Building executive homes in expensive areas will simply not address the crisis in housing for young people and families. It will entrench the dominance of housebuilders and speculators over development and focus growth in the south-east. In areas such as Epping Forest, it will lead to the loss of further areas of precious countryside, such as Green Belt and AONB. We can build the homes we need and protect the countryside.

“If we are to solve the housing crisis, the Government needs to empower communities to plan for the types and tenures of new homes that they need, and let them decide who will build the houses and where they should go. We have to redress the critical decline of genuinely affordable housing, especially in rural areas. All the consultation proposes is to ‘streamline’ the current system, which is already failing.

“The Government admits this document is not enough to solve the housing crisis. They are right. It is more likely to make it worse.”